Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA! : Stoicismhttp://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/We are a community committed to learning about and applying Stoic principles and techniques.http://www.reddit.com/reddit.com.header.pngLate Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA! : Stoicismhttp://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:57:26 -0700<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>Any question or comment big or small ;)</p> </div><!-- SC_ON --> submitted by <a href="http://www.reddit.com/user/phoenixvictory"> phoenixvictory </a> <br/> <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/">[link]</a> <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/">[28 comments]</a>http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f92x5ThereIsNoJustice on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f92x52012-07-17T07:51:55.318634-07:00Someone deleted a comment about love/relationships/etc and how we might view them. I had already typed my reply out, so here it is. And feel free to reply to this comment with your own thoughts. I can't speak for everyone here, but my view is that you don't need any one of these relationships in the same sense you require food and shelter. You can live without those relationships actually quite fine, it's just that you are seeing the situation incorrectly. Probably from societal pressure or indoctrination, you think you must do many things, and having romantic relationships is just one of them. As for love and passions, you can love what you want, as long as you realize your life would go on without it. Or you can love a lot of things and become attached to them, and then suffer when the world changes. I don't want to sound dogmatic, because the more I think about Stoicism and Buddhism the more I see that there will always be *some* suffering, and we're even better off for accepting that. But nevertheless, the basic idea is to find the strength and happiness in who you are (i.e. a good person, a content person) rather than some possessions, even other people/relationships.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5ghsbfMrGhkl444 on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5ghsbf2012-07-19T15:11:55.081864-07:00Whilst i do agree with you i feel it's worth acknowledging that it really can be very difficult for some people to live without relationships ([it is suspected that loneliness has a strong genetic component)](http://www.brighthub.com/science/genetics/articles/42136.aspx). I have a friend like this and he is very susceptible to loneliness very quickly despite being a well rounded and together person otherwise. So yeah you're certainly correct in the cold light of day of things but i think it's worth understanding that some people really can't brush it off very lightly. If any of those people read this then might i suggest meditating on compassion, i have a habit of isolating myself if i'm not careful and if i ever get lonely i just meditate on compassion and it dies away very quickly. This is almost certainly why Tibetan hermits don't go crazy despite living by themselves on the side of a mountain for 30 years.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f6ojb[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f6ojb2012-07-17T03:25:39.333312-07:00A practical question from me. I'm trying to practice stoicism, but it only springs to mind a few times a day. What daily rituals or habits did you practicing stoics find useful to train yourself to be mindful, suspend judgment, et cetera? I do try to practice negative visualisation, suspend judgment when I remember to, practice the dichotomy of control, and take some time each day to reflect on my progress, but only the last one seems easy to learn, and it's rather hopeless on its own. The other suggested habits are hard to turn into real habits. I am being very strict with myself in other fields (exercise, diet, work) in an attempt to train willpower, but steering it towards the stoic attitude is difficult.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f743aThatsOK on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f743a2012-07-17T04:39:55.678252-07:00My experience: keep to your resolutions, and be patient, it's a slow process. When I first discovered Stoicism, I wanted to understand everything immediatly, which is an error: I overestimed the power of reason, and underestimated the value of time and experience (experience and reasonning, but not mere reasonning, teach you what works and what doesn't).http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5ffazf[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5ffazf2012-07-17T13:51:33.307176-07:00Thanks. I understand that it'll be a slow process; I'm having trouble staying in the process, though. What can I do to keep my mind on this? I won't understand everything immediately, but I should at least be trying and actually getting experience, right?http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fq9udThatsOK on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fq9ud2012-07-18T05:31:35.532147-07:00&gt;but I should at least be trying and actually getting experience, right? Why, sure! &gt;What can I do to keep my mind on this? Well I'm not you, but what what works for me: not multiplying practices, and taking the habit to not react immediatly.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fqa8g[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fqa8g2012-07-18T05:32:48.439697-07:00&quot;not multiplying practices&quot;?http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fqgxdThatsOK on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fqgxd2012-07-18T05:53:24.682280-07:00When I discovered Stoicism, I was eager to suspend judgment, practice dichotomy of control, follow Epictetus advices and whatnot, all at once, which was too much and confusing. So I decided to go step by step.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fif0jcleomedes on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fif0j2012-07-17T17:09:54.526993-07:00A major one is actively engaging with Stoic principles, not just by passively reading, but by actually doing projects that force you to think about them. The best are projects that make you do active research, and then recast the principles both generally and in specific concrete examples. The classic example of this is journaling, making a regular practice of regularly writing down Stoic principles in different formulations, as forcefully and persuasively as possible each time. This is one (educated) guess about the original purpose of Marcus Aurelius's meditations. There are many possible variations on this. Don't like writing? Make a presentation based on a Seneca letter or a Epictetus dialog, and practice giving it to yourself daily until you think you could give it to a crowd. Write a fictional debate between Epictetus and Darth Vader on power and fate. Pick a piece of fiction (book, movie, TV show, whatever) and consider what would have been different had a character of your choice been a Stoic sage. Pick a Seneca essay, and rewrite it in your own words, replacing his examples with modern ones. When doing negative visualization, make a written plan in the style of a business proposal, detailing your internal reactions and any contingencies you can think of, and providing arguments to justify them. The idea is to pick something that will keep your attention on the Stoic principles, and build associations between those principles and the things you encounter or think about, particularly things you will encounter or think about in the situations where you need them most. Projects that involve both specific events about specific people (real or fictional) are good, as are projects that cause you to look through many books by different authors (Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, the many modern authors that write about Stoicism) for the thoughts of each on a specific topic (friendship, fate, etc.) Reading actively is more effective than passive reading for getting yourself to internalize the content, not just to be able to answer questions about it, but for it to affect how you think. Most of us got experience writing papers in school, even if we haven't since. Papers are used as an educational tool not because anyone might actually want to read them, or because that literary form is particularly useful for communication, but because writing them can help get you to think about the material. This is what you are doing here. If you pick projects that require you to collect examples from a specific event or on a specific day, it can serve as an effective trick to get you to think about the Stoic principles during that event or on that day. Another idea is to launch an advertising campaign targeting yourself. Blast yourself with ads that you know you will find most convincing. Both the exercise of creating the ads and the experience of being subjected to them will improve you. Of course getting yourself to actually make a practice of doing such things is easier said than done, and I can't claim any great success in that regard (although I can claim that what I have done, I have found well worth the effort). edit: typos, some text cleanuphttp://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5foz86[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5foz862012-07-18T01:59:17.495242-07:00Thanks. I'm not up for entire essays - I have to write enough already in my studies - but I can definitely reflect on my readings of the Stoics on paper. Seeing stoic characteristics (or lack of them) in fiction happens rather naturally - boy, are they bad at this in Game of Thrones - but it's linking it back to myself that's hard. I'll see if the written word helps.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fq3cscleomedes on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fq3cs2012-07-18T05:08:36.489944-07:00Shorter writing seems to be the more classically traditional anyway. My preference for longer projects is based on the more recent (as far as I know) observation that one's mind tends to wander onto unresolved issues and incomplete projects, with the result that you tend to think about projects you've started but not completed more than those you have either not yet started, or already finished. As your goal is to get yourself thinking about Stoicism, projects that span multiple days can take advantage of this.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fq4xy[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fq4xy2012-07-18T05:14:33.571947-07:00Heh, I'm not that project-oriented, I see more patterns in the world the more information I have, and then see patterns between those, et cetera. Small tidbits do just as well as huge projects, as long as they're not &quot;isolated&quot; (eg. I can't find a connection between one experience or fact and other stuff that happens in my life / in the world). I think I'll be fine with short reflections, given that the larger network is already there: stoicism and applying it.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5flhr3phoenixvictory on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5flhr32012-07-17T20:38:00.235393-07:00I would suggest the making of lists of tasks that can be easily accomplished within thirty minutes to one hour. The Stoics wrote against attempting impossible tasks and to only take on projects that can be done. One could read this as a fatalistic view on human ventures but that interpretation does not seem to align with Stoic ethics or the lives of the ancients. To me I read this as having high lofty goals but breaking them into chunks that can be accomplished. I apply this directly to my life. Every morning I try to read a Stoic letter, exercise, shower and then I make the day's personal list of tasks before I leave to work. At work I do the same for my professional objectives. Being able to check off the small tasks and create new ones keep my always aligned to my goals and also provide a little satisfaction of accomplishment. I would recommend it to anyone. I would also advise to remember that whatever you do...do it to the best of your ability. Make it a challenge to improve everyday. Another suggestion is to go without things you enjoy as a reminder how fleeting the are. You will learn to appreciate even the smallest of things.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fowqh[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fowqh2012-07-18T01:48:06.165272-07:00You have a supply of short stoic letters large enough to give yourself a letter every morning? This I like, where can I get the same? I remind myself every night to try to do things to the best of my ability; I also remind myself to make that my goal (because the goal of actually achieving whatever I'm trying to do is out of my control and shouldn't affect my emotionally). Most often though, when I do that, I only realise that I didn't do it throughout the day. I'll try listing small goals in the morning, thanks. I am practising minor self-denial (though I am not strong enough for icy showers); I think it helps a bit, but I can't be sure of that yet.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fqpg2miyatarama on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fqpg22012-07-18T06:17:27.780160-07:00Here are 124 of Seneca's letters: [link](http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius)http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5frbe5phoenixvictory on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5frbe52012-07-18T07:09:04.713286-07:00Sure, all Seneca's letters and works such as On Anger On the Shortness of Life On Tranquillity of Mind and his consolations. I also find the letters and fragments from Rufus enjoyable. All can easily be found online. I find https://sites.google.com/site/thestoiclife/Home a very helpful resource. The point is to be reminded of your principles every morning and preferably constantly. I do other things to remind myself, things that do not draw attention to me or my pursuit, like the desktop image I have at work of the island of Gyaros. The important part I have found is the pursuit of this perfection. Yeah the ice showers are rough ;) The important part is that we learn to appreciate everything we have and view things in a practical light. That is how I understand the practice of self-denial. It keeps the body and mind strong. Let me know how the lists work out! Like others are mentioning, writing a stoic journal is very important. I do this every evening before I go to sleep. I was lucky enough to find a member here that acts as a type of journal buddy. Every evening I send him my journal and he will send me mine. The point was to insure that both keep up the habit. It has been an incredibly fruitful venture for me. It allows me not only to keep up my practice but see the struggles of another follower of the stoic tradition.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5frunk[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5frunk2012-07-18T07:49:24.973623-07:00Yeah, the daily journal is the one thing I have down consistently; it just got frustrating to write down &quot;I managed to practice the dichotomy of control once or twice today and briefly practised negative visualisation, but otherwise not much progress&quot; for days in a row, followed by things I should remember to do the next day which I inevitably forgot. I've read On the Shortness of Life and On Tranquility of Mind, though they aren't really material that can be read and digested in a morning. I'll see what I can do about the constant reminders :Dhttp://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5g38d8phoenixvictory on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5g38d82012-07-18T19:38:07.636569-07:00Why not go in details? Document your feelings and recall how you acted. If a Stoic example arose in your mind at the time, write it down and analyse it. Ohh I didn`t mean to completely finish them in one morning! Just 20-30 minutes or so ;)http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f8lxhThereIsNoJustice on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f8lxh2012-07-17T07:17:12.274443-07:00I would suggest meditation, done in the usual form, and possibly hypnosis. Meditation may be more helpful in the long run, and hypnosis in the short run. Meditation is especially helpful as far as suspending judgment, because the end effect is seeing that your thoughts are only thoughts, feelings only feelings, etc.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5ff9x0[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5ff9x02012-07-17T13:49:51.814420-07:00Thanks for the advice. I've quite the dislike for meditation, though. I'm miserable when I try it. I like the mindfulness, I dislike being disconnected from the world. I'd rather train my mind and my concentration through using it, by analyzing, by thinking, by self-correcting, by consciously keeping my mind on a subject. The focus on reason is one of the big draws for Stoicism for me.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5flatcThereIsNoJustice on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5flatc2012-07-17T20:25:28.092155-07:00&gt;I'm miserable when I try it. I like the mindfulness, I dislike being disconnected from the world. I think this a common experience. The miserableness comes for a lot of people because they want to achieve some goal, or they worry about whether they're meditating right. Not sure why you're miserable, but once you understand that meditation is not about getting something done, even relaxing or changing your state of miserableness, you get into the flow of things. You sit and observe, and you learn all about yourself and how your mind works. And yes, in some sense, you are disconnecting from the world and focusing on yourself. You could even say you are connecting with yourself to really see what's going on. That's just something you can't multi-task.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fotmz[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fotmz2012-07-18T01:34:18.718343-07:00Meditation feels like all the bad of physical exercise (repetition, having to go on and on) without the good (the physical experience, exhaustion, letting your mind wander). Add to that a decent amount of physical pain when I try to sit supported by my spine or lie down on my back in the same position for a long amount of time, and there's the recipe for a thoroughly unpleasant experience. Not to mention that it doesn't feel like getting to know myself or my mind but like distancing myself from the part of myself I actually like (my ability to reason quickly and creatively). I'm not sure meditation is for me.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f5mqo[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f5mqo2012-07-17T00:35:41.925959-07:00I was thinking about curiosity and how it influences your actions. * Watching or reading the news is usually not helpful at all (it is mostly about things that are outside your sphere of influence) and not really entertaining either (mostly stress-inducing if you fail to detach). * When someone talks about personal things, I sometimes realize that I’m trying to find out more even though it seems that they’re not comfortable talking about it. * When an accident has happened on the opposite lane (and help is already there), there is no reason to look; it can even be dangerous when people give in to this curiosity instead of watching the road. * I find myself thinking about things that I know are unproductive, for example thinking of a conversation in which I would explain my inadequacies to someone. When I tell myself “this is unproductive” I usually keep the thought going anyway. I realize that I am curious to see where the thought goes. Rationally I know that there is no “end”, in the same way that trying to figure out the real meaning of life never gets you a satisfying answer (you have to settle for an unproven world view at some point). I don’t always listen to my rational self and keep the thought going out of curiosity though. That being said, realizing this helps to shift my actions and decisions in the right direction. Being able to cancel a thought at will is a very valuable skill. I see it as a form of “letting go”. Any thoughts? Or more examples?http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f74em[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5f74em2012-07-17T04:41:12.673514-07:00How would a stoic respond in hard-to-avoid conversation with people who are somewhat negative and self-absorbed?http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5faey4ThereIsNoJustice on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5faey42012-07-17T09:16:07.770512-07:00In practical terms, you can make the conversation as short as possible, but in terms of perspective, it's important to understand that no one can make you suffer. Another person can make you hear something, see something, and generally effect your senses. But whether you decide this is unacceptable/wrong/problematic is up to you. Then people want to know how to take that view. I just finished reading a buddhist book (Sit Down and Shut Up) by Brad Warner which has a great story, which shows the difficulty in this: &gt;A few hundred years ago a dude named Gensa, who later went on to be one of the great Buddhist teachers, was still a young monk. One day he gets fed up with the temple where he’s studying. He figures he’d be better off getting out and seeing what the rest of the world has to offer. Maybe another temple will have whatever it is he’s been looking for. Or maybe he’ll just give up on temples altogether. As he’s heading out the gate, he stubs his toe on a big ol’ rock. He’s hopping around in terrible pain, bleeding from under his toenail, going, “Ow! Ow! Shit! Piss! Damn!” And he thinks, “I’ve heard that the body is an illusion. So where the hell did all this pain come from?” All at once he gets it. &gt;Later on, his teacher, a guy named Seppo Gisan, asks him what’s up, and he says, “I just can’t be deceived by others.” ...That one sentence, “I can’t be deceived,” says all you need to know. &gt;When people say stuff like “I can’t be deceived,” the emphasis is usually on “I.” ... But that’s not what Gensa means here. “I” here is absolutely universal. It refers just as much to you and me as it does to Gensa himself. He’s not bragging. He might even be a little bit sad when he says, “I can’t be deceived.” &gt;You’re probably thinking, Why would he be sad about that? I mean, he’s enlightened, right? And enlightenment is supposed to be the happiest thing that can ever happen to a person — just like Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth® — right? Otherwise why strive for it? But think about it for a sec. Imagine a situation in which you suddenly realize with absolute certainty that you can never blame anyone else... You can no longer tell yourself that if only this or that happened, then you’d find perfect happiness... It must be just a little sad. But it’s sad in a different way from usual sadness. It’s a sadness that knows what sadness really is. It knows that there is no merit in taking hold of sadness, so it lets the sadness drift by. Still, it’s not as if sadness isn’t part of the equation. &gt;The idea that we can be deceived is an illusion created by our amazing ability to think. Real deception never happens. We pretend to be deceived. We even fool ourselves into actually thinking we believe we’ve been had. But it just doesn’t happen. When Gensa stubbed his toe on that rock — in other words, when he suddenly came face-to-face with the undeniable fact that he was living in this world and not in the world he created in his mind — he understood that he could not be deceived.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fb4uxmiyatarama on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fb4ux2012-07-17T09:55:53.998877-07:00This story follows the pattern Epictetus spoke of: the vulgar blame others, the novice blames herself and the proficient blames no one.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fetec[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5fetec2012-07-17T13:24:01.402495-07:00How can I train myself to stop stressing the past? I cannot seem to move past certain regrets.http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5ffhep[deleted] on Late Monday/Early Tuesday Stoic Questions - AUA!http://www.reddit.com/r/Stoicism/comments/woblr/late_mondayearly_tuesday_stoic_questions_aua/c5ffhep2012-07-17T14:01:41.624161-07:00This is the one thing that I feel I've been able to make most serious progress in the past month of trying to practice Stoicism. Remembering something that I regretted, or worse yet, that I felt ashamed of, could crush my mood immediately. Focusing on the thought that it's out of your control, that it *cannot* be changed because it is in the past, then *choosing* consciously to stop feeling regret; that's what's worked for me. It just made me smile sadly and move on the first time I did it; after a while though, consciously moving yourself away from the regrets will get easy. So far I do believe I can more easily deal with small regrets, though the big ones have taken their place in my mind, and dealing with them is harder, though I try the same method to wear them down.